Toy.



J. VANDERBILT.

TOY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1910. 9682900. Patented Aug. 3o, 19,10.

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IIIIITE STATES ATNT FFICI.

JOHN VANDERBILT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN VANDERBILT, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the countyand State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Toy, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to toys, my more particular purpose being toproduce a diving toy the motions of which are controllable by aid of aweight, the motions being to some extent automatic.

More particularly stated, I seek to provide a floating body or balloon,and a medium in which it can float, together with a basket carried bythe balloon and provided with means for receiving a small weight whenthe balloon is in its uppermost position and for causing the release ofthe weight when the balloon is in its lower-most position.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specicat-ion in which similar characters of reference indicatocorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a substantially central vertical section through theapparatus complete, showing the balloon and its car in their uppermostpositions, the ca'r being loaded by a weight: Fig. 2 is a view similarto Fig. 1, but showing the balloon and its car in their lowerniostpositions, the eight having just been discharged; Fig. 3 is a detailshowing in plan the car and its contents; and Fig. 4 is an elevationlikewise showing the car and its contents.

A tall vessel 5 contains a body of water 6. A floating body 7 having thesemblance of a balloon is provided with an annularportion 8 andconnected with the latter are chains 9 which support a car 11 by aid ofa circular railing 10. The car 11 is provided with a box frame 12 acrosswhich extends a pintle 13. A hopper 14 is mounted upon the pint-le 13and is adapted to rock within certain limits, as will be understood bycontrasting Figs. 1 and 2. The hopper is provided with a counterweight14a (see Fig. 3) whereby it normally tends to maintain the positionindicated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

At 15 is a small spherical weight, preferably a bullet, any number ofwhich may be provided. A pintle 16 extends across the box frame 12 andis disposed a little lower Specification of Letters Patent.

Appncation mea May 5, 1910.

Patented Aug. so, 1910.

Serial No. 559,433.

- than the pintle 13, to the right thereof according to Fig. 1. Mountedupon the pintle 16 is a trigger 17 provided with a hook 18 which isadapted to overlap the adjacent end of the hopper 14 and hold the samein the position indicated in Fig. 1.

At 19 is a figure, which in this instance represents a naval oiiicerhaving charge of the balloon and its paraphernalia.

The operation of my device is as follows: I will suppose at the startthat the balloon and its car are. in their uppermost positions and thatthe hook 18 is in engagement with the adjacent end of the hopper 14. Theweight 15 is now dropped by hand int-o the hopper 14. The bottom of thishopper is slightly inclined when in normal position, so that the bulletrolls back toward the pintle 13, as indicated in Fig. 1. The addition ofthis weight causes the balloon and its car to sink slowly through theliquid so that the trigger 17 strikes against the bottom of the vessel.This causes the trigger to turn upon the pintle 16 and to disengage thehook 18 from the hopper 14 which, under control of the weight 15, nowturns into the position indicated at the bottom of Fig. 2. the weightrolling ofi and lodging upon the. bottom of the vessel. The car beingrid of the weight, the balloon ascends carrying the car with it. Indropping the weight the hopper 14 is left free to resume its normalposition and under control of the counterweight 14a (see Fig. 3) it doesso immediately, and as the balloon begins to rise the weight of thetrigger 17 causes the hook 18 to extend slightly over the adjacent endof the hopper so as to hold the same as indicated in Fig. 1. When theballoon arrives at the top, the operator drops another weight into thehopper, the net result being a complete descent of the balloon and car,the unloading of the bullet at the bottom of the vessel, and the ascentof the balloon and car. Each successive bullet dropped in causes arepetition of the complete cycle of movements.

I do not limit myself to the precise mechanism shown nor to the exactarrangement of the various parts. Neither do I limit the application ofthe principle altogether to toys, for the reason that my device may bevaried to some extent without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, I

claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. The combination of a vertical vessel containing a liquid, a floatingbody within said liquid, means carried by said floating body formomentarily supporting a weight, and mechanism controllable by thedescent of said floating body for discharging said weight.

2. The combination of a vessel containing a liquid, a floating body freewithin said liquid, a car carried by said floating body, a hoppermounted upon said car and adapted to rock, and mechanism carried by saidcar and controllable by motions thereof for turning said hopper whensaid car approaches an obstacle below it.

3. The combination of a vessel for containing a floating medium, aballoon-like floating body within said liquid, a car suspended from saidfloating body, a hopper mounted upon said car and free to rockrelatively to the same, a trigger mounted upon said car and providedwith a hook for engaging said hopper in order to hold the same in apredetermined normal position, and a weight to be dropped upon saidhopper for the purpose of turning the same Whenever said hopper isafterward released from said hook.

4. The combination of a vessel for containing a liquid, a floating bodydisposed within said liquid, a car carried by said oating body, a hoppermounted within said car and adapted to rock, a trigger carried by saidcar and free to move relatively to the same when, during the descent ofsaid car, said trigger strikes an obstacle below,

it, said trigger being provided with a hook for engaging said hopper andnormally preventing the same from rocking, and a weight to be carried bysaid hopper for the purpose of turning the latter when said hook isreleased from said hopper.

5. The combination of a vessel for containing a liquid, a floating bodydisposed within said liquid, a car carried by said floating body andprovided with a slot, a trigger journaled upon said car and extendingthrough said slot for the purpose of enabling said trigger to be droppedwhen said car descends approximately to the bottom of said vessel, ahook carried by said trigger, a hopper journaled upon said car andadapted to rock, said hopper being normally engaged by said hook andthereby restrained from rocking, and a weight to be carried by saidhopper for the purpose of causing the descent of said floating body andsaid car, said weight being free to leave said hopper when said hopper,after its release by said hook, is rocked by said weight.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN VANDERBILT.

lVitnesses:

VALTON HARRISON, PHILIP D. RoLLHAUs.

